The Half Windsor Knot is one of the most popular tie knots out there. Interestingly, some men confuse the Half Windsor with Windsor knot, and they refer to the real Windsor knot as Double Windsor, but that terminology is more confusing than it helps. Moreover, most men chose the wrong collar or tie for this kind of knot making them look like an amateur.
In today’s video guide, I show you:
- How to properly tie a Half Windsor knot
- What ties work & DO NOT work with this knot
- What shirt collars look best with this knot
So you look your best.
Please share and like the video if you enjoy it and leave a comment, thanks!
Transcript:
Welcome back to our series on How to tie ties! Today, I’m going to show you how to tie the Half Windsor Knot.
What is the Half Windsor Knot?
First of all, the term Half Windsor is somewhat off because it doesn’t have anything to do with the regular Windsor knot. In terms of size, it’s about halfway between the Four in Hand knot and the Full Windsor knot but about 75% size of a full Windsor knot so it’s not even half the size of the Windsor knot.
As you can see, I’m wearing the Half Windsor knot here right now with a green linen wool blend tie from Fort Belvedere, which is on the thinner side. It is a symmetrical knot, and I included a dimple. It’s also slightly smaller than the Full Windsor knot with the same tie. Okay, here’s how you tie it.
Half Windsor Knot with Thin Tie by Fort Belvedere
How To Tie The Half Windsor Knot
To start, you have the slim end in your right hand and the wide end in your left hand. The slim end should be about a hand and a half above your waistband, the wide end goes to the right, over the slim end and back to the side it was originally at. Now you take this end, bring the tie up and go through this hole, and you go to the opposite side, so you have it back onto your right.
Then bring it back over to the left and front, pull it down and then up, you can see the knot is forming. Now the wide end goes through the knot and if you want a dimple, now’s the time to pinch. See, knot’s forming, so if you like it pull at the slim end, pull it up and make sure it’s the way you like it and pull down here underneath the knot and pinch here, form the knot you like and then pull it up. Voila! The Half Windsor knot.
Side view with thick silk tie by Fort Belvedere
Style Tips For The Half Windsor Knot
At the size of this tie knot, you obviously do not want to wear it with a tab collar or any collar bars and pins. I would recommend you wear a cutaway collar, spread collar, maybe medium spread only if you have a thin tie. If you have a thick tie, the half Windsor can be rather daring, it’s not going to be as big as the full Windsor knot with a thick tie but here’s what it looks like. Voila, the Half Windsor knot with a thick tie. As you can see. This is a really thick silk jacquard tie from Fort Belvedere, and the knot is almost bigger than a full Windsor with a thinner tie.
Half Windsor Knot with thick navy striped tie by Fort Belvedere
Half Windsor Knot For Short Men: Get The Right Tie
So if you have a thicker tie, and you like the look of the Windsor knot, go down the Half Windsor to just balance the size of the knot with the thickness of the tie. It seems like the half-Windsor knot is often favored by shorter men desperately trying to create a big, knot, so the tie ends up shorter. Now this is not the best way to do it because shorter men often have smaller heads, and so a bigger tie knot looks not proportional and it looks awkward.
If you’re short what you should do is get a short tie so you can tie a smaller knot that suits you, your height and suits your body and simply looks much better on you. If you want a shorter tie, please check out our selection at Fort Belvedere where we offer every tie in short, regular, and long, so you always look your best no matter your height.
Thanks and stay tuned for more videos on how to tie knots and other things related to men’s clothing.